Tears of Light and Blood
by 2Due
Summary: Something's wrong with Link and the Master Sword knows it. Malicious red blood tears fall from the sky and a mysterious Golden Guardian has been stalking Link for weeks. Link didn't realize until it was too late and he might bring ruin to himself. Luckily he's not fighting alone. [Link x Prince Sidon / Sidlink ]
1. The tear of the Blood Moon

_**Ch. 1 – The tear of the Blood Moon**_

The sun was creeping down at the horizon under a thick cover of thundering clouds, sending red rays over the mountains of the Zora domain for brief few minutes before letting the grey darkness cover the whole picture. Link lingered for the only warmth it could offer until it was possible, gliding down from mountain top to another below, struggling to keep his grip tight. As he saw the light disappear, he sighed deeply and focused on the path he was following. He was wounded, exhausted, furious… in the last past days everything just went wrong and now he couldn't even use the Sheikah slate to teleport, his last attempt to get into the castle ended horribly and he was forced to retreat.

" _Without my sword… I'm a lost cause…"_ His mind kept replaying the same thought over and over, bringing his hope down into a dark abyss.

He prepared himself to land on a cliff and he managed to grab onto the rock without much difficulty, but he forgot for a moment about his wounded side, hissing at the impact and almost losing balance. Luckily, he still had a good self-control. He placed a hand over the bloody side, taking a moment to stabilize himself, when a metallic noise made him jolt. Not far below from his position, a guardian was roaming in the area, patrolling and hunting. If looks could kill, Link would have made it explode on the spot. He remembered well that guardian, he fought it not long ago during a rainy night, but the recent blood moon brought it back into Calamity Ganon's control.

Link took a deep breath and moved as quietly as possible to reach the top of the cliff, he was in no shape to fight, the wisest thing was to avoid combat and find a safe place to heal. He pulled himself up panting and he sat on the cold rock to rest for just a second. The guardian below hadn't seen him, but he still needed to move, monsters around were still too dangerous for him to face. He could have still sniped them from above with his arrows, but it would have surely attracted unwanted attention.

With a pat on his legs, he stood up and kept his profile low, sending time to time a look to the sky. Rain always made his climbing a true challenge, but at least it gave him cover with its noise. He tried anyway to get to the domain as quickly as possible.

A bright flash caught his eyes. A red light dropped from the sky, piercing through the clouds and landing into the woods down the valley. Link knew that light already, the last one he saw was right few hours before, under the Blood Moon. He had no idea what it was, he tried to get to it, but being surrounded by guardians was quite an obstacle. He instinctively took out his slate to sign where it landed, but he groaned as he saw the device's conditions. Its screen was smashed into a web of cracks and the image was a broken jigsaw. He totally forgot about it… Suddenly the spot where the red comet landed shone with what Link could only describe as malicious energy and the trees around it died instantly as the a slithering small essence rose and crawled away. Link bit his lip, quickly put the slate away and made haste on his pace. _"Nope."_ Whatever it was, it was big trouble.

Finally, he could see the palace of king Dorephan. Just the sight of it gave him a bit of hope, there he was welcomed and he knew someone was always there waiting for him to return. He stopped a moment to take a breath and to look around himself. The red beam from Vah Ruta pulsed and caught his eye. He followed it with his sight up to the Divine Beast, but he quickly looked away shameful, feeling Mipha's gaze heavy on him. He looked at the other three Beasts following their beams…. It didn't matter how far they were, he felt his heart sink from the pressure once again and he grimaced. He took a first step to the palace, but that little hope he had earlier died as he sent a last glance to the castle.

Unbeknownst to him, the roaming guardian had set foot to the path for the Zora domain as well.

"Father!"

King Dorephan looked up from the papers Muzu was passing him and he noticed his son running up the stairs to the throne. "Ah! Son, welcome back." Sidon has been out since the day before, guarding the main path of the domain and checking on the guards. The king send a sideway glance back to the manta-ray zora. "Let's finish this later, Muzu, but do confirm the trade with the Gerudo for now." Muzu grumbled while rolling back the papers and walked out of the room, sending a grumpy salute to the prince, who responded with a snort. "Seen anything unusual on the borders?" The king cheerfully asked him, but his good mood suddenly died as he saw Sidon quickly change expression as Muzu was out.

"We need to talk." Sidon had a pretty worried and serious tone.

King Dorephan nodded and got up from his throne. He silently walked behind it where there was the staircase to their private rooms upstairs, followed by Sidon. He closed the door of his study after his son and looked down at him with grave eyes. "Speak, son. Was it Mipha?" And Sidon nodded. Since Link had managed to free the Divine Beast Vah Ruta from Calamity Ganon's influence, Mipha's spirit finally found freedom from its darkness, connecting herself to Link and to her family once again. She found herself able to visit her dear father and her precious little brother in their dreams, reconnecting lost memories and finding true peace. They spent numerous nights sharing dreams and Mipha shared with them Link's progress on his quest.

"She's worried for Master Link, father, she noticed a deep change in him lately. He might be in great danger because of it. She couldn't say what it is exactly, but even all the other Champions noticed something is off with him. She said she tried to get in contact with him, all the Champions did, but none succeeded."

King Dorephan frowned deeply and remained silent for few moments, thoughtful. "Did he manage to retrieve the Master Sword?"

Sidon shook his head. "Mipha lost contacts with him after his last try, yet she saw him go to the Castle once few days ago." His jaws tightened tensed and he took a deep breath. "I suggest sending the scouts to find him, father. We need to get him home." He said, letting emotion through his voice.

The king's frown transformed into a sad smile and he put a hand on Sidon's shoulder. "Son, I understand your concern, but… unfortunately, you know better than me that we are limited in helping Link, and sending the scouts out of our domain is too risky, especially now with the new monsters appearing after the last Divine Beast has been freed." Sidon was there to say something, but King Dorephan didn't let him. "I know, I know, it's frustrating to just stay here and wait for him to return, but don't forget he's a Champion, son, at the moment he's the strongest warrior in all Hyrule."

Sidon could only agree with him, but nothing was going to make him stop worrying for his dear friend. "I'll tell the guards to be more alert on the boarders and at the shrine in case he returns."

"And we'll see what's bothering him." The king nodded and patted his arm. "Keep your sword sharp, son, always-"

"-be ready to fight." He tried a smile. "Yes, father."

The king chuckled and took his way downstairs. "I'll have dinner ready soon. Don't be late or I'll have your portion as well."

Sidon rolled his eyes, smiling, and headed to his own room, he needed a moment for himself. He closed the door after himself and gladly started taking off his garments, neatly putting each into their place. Once free of everything, he took a step into his private pool and allowed himself to sink, leaving just his eyes out. The water was warm and made his muscles finally relax. " _Father is right…I just hope Link is doing alright."_ He sighed and closed his eyes. " _Dear sister, please keep watching over him."_

His mind quickly drove off to precious memories. Last time Link visited, he and Sidon have been spending quite some time together, especially on top of the highest waterfall right outside the city. They used to exercise together at sword parrying in the afternoon and fishing in the evening, to then sit over the edge of the cliff admiring the lights of the palace after sundown. Link has never been a chatterbox, but his company was dear. Good listener, generous, sassy and wise. That's how he'd quickly describe his friend, no wonder Mipha fell in love with him. At that last thought, Sidon groaned to himself and sunk completely in the water. " _No wonder."_

It wasn't too long after Sidon got out of his room that he heard a guard sound the alarm. He dropped the conversation he was having with the shopkeepers and he rushed to the plaza.

"Sire!" A guard called and she pointed to the sky. "Master Link has returned!"

And there he was, paragliding down his way to the main bridge at the entrance of the domain. Sidon looked up at him unable to hold a big bright smile, it's been a pretty long time since Link left. Yet, the closer he got, the more noticeable was his conditions. Sidon stared in horror when he noticed his side drenched with blood, showing a huge cut in his armour. "Healer!" He called and a guard darted to find her, while Sidon hurried to Link, crossing the main bridge. Link stumbled as he landed, but kept himself up right with dignity and pride, yet placing a hand on the wound. His eyes quickly caught Sidon running towards him, he really wanted to smile at him, but his mood was way too dark for even that and he even ended up grimacing for the pain as he took a first step forward. Sidon stopped in front of him, looking at him with big worry and asking him too many things all at once. Link groaned and raised his hand to make him stop, he looked up in the tall prince's eyes and simply said "Pool." His voice was calm, but at the same time frustrated. Sidon was clearly taken by surprise by that, so he carefully offered to carry his gear, to which Link showed no resistance, but he did show a bit of gratitude. He took everything his friend was carrying, finding it astounding how Link had so much heavy stuff on his person and still being able to move, and led him to the healer.

Link got heavily patched up, the medic applied strong stitches on the wound and wrapped his torso up with bandages. He got other bandages around his head, arms and one ankle. He lazily floated into the healing pool, relaxing and letting the hot water massage his sore body, taking deep breaths and gently shaking his head to let his long hair float around.

"My work here is done for now," said the old medic zora as she packed up her tools, "he needs a goodnight rest and a rich meal." She looked up at Sidon with a grin. "Try to not bother him too much, kiddo." And she gave him a playful punch on the arm.

The prince snorted embarrassed and nodded. "Thanks, Nana, I'll look over him."

"I had no doubts." She picked her bag and headed to the door. "Be sure he eats, eh." She waved and walked out.

The only lights in the room came from the bioluminescence of the stones in the walls and from the bottom of the pool, giving the room a calm, warm atmosphere.

Link had sunk underwater for few seconds and he made a puffing sound as he resurfaced, rubbing his face with a hand. Sidon was looking at him and found it weird that the hylian wasn't even looking back. He took the tray with Link's hot meal and walked up to the pool, descended the few steps until the water was at his chest and let the tray on the border. "Link?"

No response, Link even looked at the opposite direction, but Sidon insisted. He walked up to him and stood at his side, looking down at him. "My dear friend, what happened?"

Link didn't react at first, but after a long while he turned to face him, sighing deeply. His eyes dropped almost immediately though, full of shame.

"You can tell me." He invited as his hands moved under his friend and he gently scooped him, pulling him towards the steps of the pool. He sat in the shallow water, letting Link float over his lap.

"The Master Sword… doesn't accept me…" The blond young man rasped, barely keeping rage into check. "The more I try, the more I fail." His fists were tight over his belly, shivering and tensing up, making the veins of his arms pop out. "I don't know what it wants from me! I freed every Beast, trained in every shrine… am I not worthy enough? Even the monks accepted my worth!" He sat up holding his head in his hands, "I tried to get into the castle already, but without the Sword I cannot fight! I cannot help Zelda!"

Sidon didn't even dare to touch him at that point, he'd never seen him that frustrated, that angry…he couldn't even tell if the vapour rising from him was because of the pool or his rage. He suddenly saw tears signing Link's cheeks and he bit his lips, not knowing what to do. Yet, his arms cautiously closed around Link instinctively and pulled him in against his chest. The hylian didn't oppose, he actually seemed to welcome that warmth and leaned against him to rest.

Sidon took a deep breath, relieved, and moved a lock of blonde hair away from Link's face. "Link? You know why I keep saying I believe in you? It's because I really do, it's not just something I say lightly to simply cheer you up. And you well know I'm not the only one. Mipha believes in you, Father believes in you, the whole domain does." He offered a sincere smile. "We all know you will be triumphant! You're the only one worthy of such an honourable task, we know you'll succeed! Soon or later, you'll be able to hold the Master Sword once again, I'm sure of it."

Much to the zora prince's surprise, Link didn't react if not with a grimace. Fear started sinking into Sidon's heart, Mipha was right, something was wrong.

"They fell silent, sire." The guard whispered as he pressed his ear more against the infirmary door. King Dorephan pressed his as well, grumbling and crouching for a better position. "What do you think they are doing, sire?"

"Hmmm…. You think they kissed?"

The guard looked up at the big king with quite a surprised look, but he froze as he saw a shadow casting over the door. He looked towards the corridor to see the small frame of the old zora healer Nanadee, glaring at them both with hands on her hips. The guard straightened up in a hurry, blushing and gulping. "Sire?" He called, trembling.

"Hmmm, I might get a ceremonial supper ready, you never know." He whispered, smiling to himself, fully unaware of the situation.

"Sire!" The guard pressed on, finally catching his attention. King Dorephan frowned down at him, not pleased to have been interrupted from his planning, but seeing the guard on alert, he looked behind him finding the small old lady. He froze guilty.

"I should have known." She hissed and stomped toward them. She quickly took hold of the king's long tail and sent a glare to the guard, making him sweat like a frog in the desert. "You better keep doing your job." She then pulled the king away. "Let's go, we have things to do."

"Yes, Nana…" The king sighed as he followed.

Eventually Sidon managed to make Link have his meal. At first Link wanted nothing to do with it, but hunger soon prevailed and he started eating like a starving wolf. He sadly chuckled while holding the floating tray in front of Link and waited for him to be done. "You feel better?"

Link leaned against him nodding, full and satisfied, letting his legs float. His mood seemed to get a bit better as well, finally showing how glad he was being with the prince, but without saying a word though.

Sidon looked down at him with a bit of pride, brushing his hair away from the bandage around his head. "…You look better, I see your wounds healing up."

Link looked up with silent eyes, but Sidon noticed for the first time that day a slight sparkle of positive hope. That little thing made him beam with hope as well.

"Rest, my dear friend, you deserve it. When you'll be alright, I'm sure you'll find your strength to conquer the Master Sword once again." He smiled and Link unexpectedly smiled back in a soft nod.

It was then that the alarm started singing loud and clear, followed by a guard screaming "GUARDIAN IN THE DOMAIN! GUARDIAN IN THE DOMAIN!"

And at that, Sidon saw that small sparkle in Link's eyes flashing red.

* * *

Hello everyone!  
I'm kind of back on track with my writing, but I wanted to start something different. I'm afraid my previous works won't see the end, I got stuck, despite I really loved it and many people liked it I cannot bring myself to finish it, I'm sorry :c If people wanna know stuff about them, feel free to ask!

Big hugs,  
2Due

PS: Wrote this in Febraury but totally forgot to post it here :DDDD ops

You can find me on AO3 (as 2Due) and Tumblr (as 2due-the-anteka)


	2. The Guardian of Light

_**Ch. 2 – The Guardian of Light**_

"Link! Link, stop this instant!"

But the hylian didn't listen to his friend, his blood was boiling with rage, enough to make him forget about the pain of his wounds. If it was going to be that damn stalker which tormented him for weeks, this was going to be the last time that machine was going to walk.

The Golden Guardian wasn't a normal one, Link felt it on sight and it made his skin crawl in fear each time he saw it. The first time he met it had been about 6 weeks earlier and since then the Guardian never let him alone. Wherever he went, the machine was not too far behind him, walking quickly after him to catch him. It gave him nightmares every night, causing him to skip sleep very often. He tried to fight it, it wasn't the first time he fought a Guardian, but something in it made him simply want to avoid it and Link couldn't understand what.

Link's been incredibly quick, Sidon failed to keep him down, he just saw him grabbing two tiny tools from the pile of his gear without even bothering to get any kind of armour and simply ran off downstairs. The prince was after him in no time, running by the young man's bag, where he noticed the Sheikah slate. He looked at it in horror seeing the broken state, but he needed to stop Link first.

Outside it was chaos. Guards were fighting monsters in every directions, some were guiding the last civilians to safety, parents grabbing their children and diving into the water under the city, King Dorephan fighting against the biggest, strongest enemies… the presence of the Guardian must have given the monsters around the domain hope to conquer and they came in dozens.

…And there it was, making its way up the cliffs, not very far from the city. Just the sight of the Guardian made Link growl furious. It was purple, just like any other Guardian and the hylian bet it was the one that was roaming up the mountains. It didn't matter, the machine was going down.

A horn sound interrupted his thoughts and made him look around. Many monsters were looking at him, most of them in fear, some others in pure terror. Many of them recognized him and they all looked shocked to see him in the domain.

Link had no time for them.

Sidon rushed down the stairs before the throne room and saw Link standing on the border of the balcony where he usually stood himself, and saw him raising his hand to the sky, thumb and middle finger touching. He ran frowning, not understanding what he was doing, but his attention got caught by a dark figure on the left, a black bokoblin was hastily moving towards Link with its sword drew. Sidon stopped at the bottom of the stairs and quickly looked around. Despite the chaos, he spotted a spear next to a fallen enemy, he grabbed it and aimed for the monster preparing a powerful strike.

Yet, the exact moment Sidon launched the spear, Link snapped his fingers. Many enemies were already running away when ear-piercing green lightning struck them dead on the spot like hundreds of judgement arms crashing them to the ground. The bokoblin Sidon aimed at was dead even before the spear went through its neck.

The boom of the attack brought confusion and fear to the guards, but they recovered quickly to finish the job on still living invaders. Only a few enemies got able to escape.

Sidon had covered his ears, not expecting that electric explosion. Link had only talked about Urbosa's gift, never showed it, and now that he had seen it on the field he could only describe it as terrifying. He looked up to see Link jumping down to the plaza below, rushing through the battle at full speed towards the incoming Guardian, which was almost at the main bridge. Sidon jumped down after him, calling for him, uselessly. The blonde hylian darted away, barefoot and with no protection, brandishing his weird gear. Doing so the items activated and flourished into bright blue light shapes, a big sword and a shield big enough to cover the young man fully.

The Guardian was at the end of the bridge, stopped only by the archs, his blue eye already targeting Link and focussing its beam on him.

Link was charging it and there was no coming back.

"LINK!" Sidon called, just to be abruptly stopped by his father, who blocked his way with his arm and spear. King Dorephan had a dark frown on his face, he understood well his son, but he couldn't afford to lose him. They shared a grim look and they both looked at Link running on the bridge.

"Everyone! Back!" The king yelled at his guards. There was no actual need though, the guards were brave and strong, but they all knew they were like flies to the enormous machine. They all took cover as much as they could, some dove into the depths below to guarantee protection to the citizens.

BEEP!

The Guardian released its tremendous beam in all its deadly glory and Sidon feared the worst for Link, but much to his surprise, the young man used its shield to parry it with a flawless timing and sent it back to the sender, making the Guardian tilt stunned.

"DID HE JUST…?!" Sidon exclaimed in shock as he pulled his fins on the sides of his head.

Link took chance of that split second to charge the machine and quickly stabbed it in the eye with his sword, to then quickly push himself off pulling the sword out, leaving behind a gaping fracture leaking red sparkles. He flipped mid-air and reached out for something behind his back, but sadly he had no bow with him, which he thought he had actually taken, he could only grimace for forgetting it. He landed on one knee, but he didn't wait for the Guardian to recollect itself, he drew out his sword and charged the machine in a flurry rush, striking with perfect hits at the joints of its long legs, making them explodes and detach.

The machine lost 3 of its legs, it stumbled on the edge of the cliff, blind and violently swinging its other legs to both stabilize itself and hit the hero. Its claws sunk deeply into the ground, removing huge chunks of dirt and rock, sending them around and almost hitting the zoras on the other side of the bridge.

The enemy as awfully resistant, but Link was too focused in finding an opening to finish it to acknowledge how different that Guardian looked. The mechanical eye was severely pouring a red liquid all over, same with the fractured joints which spilled the liquid like fountains. It was in that moment that Link lost his balance slipping on the dense liquid, landing heavily on his back. The machine felt him and it quickly thrust its claws towards him, and Link found himself stuck under the machine with the sharp claws pushing hard down against his shield that he managed to quickly bring up before the Guardian could tear his chest open.

"LET GO OF ME! He needs help!" On the other side of the bridge Sidon had enough, he couldn't stay there and just watch, but the 3 guards and the king holding him had different opinions.

Suddenly a loud scream and sharp metallic noise froze them on the spot. As they looked up, they saw the machine twitch in place to then heavily drop on the side, leaning against a huge rock. All its lights died off, but the red liquid kept oozing out. Its long tentacles moved as Link pushed them off and in few moments the blond young man was standing before the zora people. He shook the red liquid off himself, stretched his back to make few bones pop and then looked toward Sidon, giving him a cocky smile.

The zoras burst into a loud cheering for the Champion, finally letting the prince go. Sidon was laughing as he ran toward Link, overjoyed to see his friend still in one piece. Kind of one piece, despite he was smiling content of the result of the fight, Link was holding his side, his wound had started bleeding once again. He ran his fingers over the bandage around his head and into his messy hair and they came out red. He couldn't tell if it was blood or the weird liquid from the machine.

"Link! My dear friend, that was simply amazing!" Sidon stopped in front of him greeting him with a huge happy smile. "I've never seen anyone fighting a Guardian like you did! How were you even able to parry its laser? That was marvellous, you must teach me th-" Both of them abruptly turned toward the carcass of the Guardian as it cranked making a loud metallic noise, but the machine was just slipping off the rock, it lost the balance and it ended up falling off the cliff and into the water below, leaving behind a couple of broken legs and random parts of its armour into a red oozing pool.

"And there goes my last sword." Link sniffled as the machine sunk with the weapon stuck in the bottom. "Better bring it out of the kingdom before the next Blood Moon."

"I'll have the scouts taking care of it," he patted him gently on the shoulder, "and we'll get your sword back, haha. Now let's take you back to rest."

Link chuckled in agreement and started walking next to the prince when he felt an odd sensation around himself. He stopped and looked at his hands. They were still covered in red liquid, but it had started to dry on his skin ending in an awful feeling. He instinctively tried to take it off, scratching in a hurry sensing something was wrong. And he was right, he soon started feeling it crawling into his wounds, making his veins pop out in a deep red colour. A burning pain invaded his body and his mind got fogged up by the vicious personification of Ganon. He felt fear growing into him and he gasped in panic as something grabbed him. As he turned around, he saw what was radiating out of the pool of liquid left by the Guardian… that same essence he saw after a red tear landing. He had no time to react, yet he desperately tried to get away from it, all he sensed from it was pure evil, he even felt Sidon's hands trying to pull him away, but nothing was effective, the red miasma was quickly over him, moving like a snake right into his wounds and into his mouth.

Rage.

Pain.

Desperation.

Defeat.

He had only that in his mind.

His world became silent. He couldn't hear Sidon calling his name, couldn't hear the screams of the zoras, couldn't hear the noises of the waterfalls nor the sentinels up the path ringing the alarm a second time… He could hear _it_ though, making its way with haste into the kingdom.

And there it was, appearing up the path in all its shiny glory. The Golden Guardian.

The monster that stalked him for weeks making his life a nightmare. He avoided it since he came to know of its existence, but in that moment he just had one thought buzzing in his mind: He had to destroy it.

Link sat up, completely ignoring Sidon, and looked around searching for a weapon. Right nearby there was a huge sword forgotten behind by a monster, he grabbed it quickly and rushed on his feet, starting running up the path, facing the golden machine. He got incredibly close to it, his ears were ringing with a myriad of voices, a loud cacophony echoing in his head, and the closer he got to the Guardian, the louder it became. Yet, that didn't stop him, the machine halted to load its beam, aiming for him, and it was then that Link charged it, leaping into the air and reading his sword to strike the eye of the beast.

" _LINK! DON'T DO IT!"_

" _LITTLE GUY, STOP!"_

" _STOP!"_

" _CHAMPION! DO NOT ATTACK!"_

" _LINK, NO!"_

Link landed heavily on his knee striking the sword deep into the ground, he was utterly shocked and confused, panting and exhausted. "…Zelda? …And the champions?" He looked up at the machine and the last thing he saw was pure golden light.

" _Link…open your eyes…"_

 _It took him few tries, but he finally managed he found himself laying down, surrounded by warmth and soft blue lights resembling Sheikah signs on dark walls. He looked around trying to understand where he was, but he couldn't recognize the place._

" _Link?"_

 _He looked to his left and there she was, Zelda, as beautiful as the sun, looking down at him with a happy smile, while he just stared at her, baffled._

" _Link! We finally found you again!" She held his hand and squeezed it gently. "We thought everything was lost, you have no idea how happy we are to be able to speak with you again."_

 _Before he could speak, another familiar kind voice called for his name from his right. "We missed you, Link. Dearly." It was Mipha, and soon after even Daruk, Revali and Urbosa slowly appeared around him looking down at him with eyes full of hope._

 _Link sat up in shock, his heart pounding in his chest, he just couldn't believe it. He looked at them all, feeling weirdly scared and ashamed, but Daruk quickly broke the ice pulling everyone into a massive hug. There were laughs and a few complains, especially from Revali, but that sure helped the group to get a bit more comfortable._

" _Princess…" Link started, as he got released. "I…I don't know what's going on, the Master Sword doesn-"_

" _I know, I know, Link, we know you did your best, you did a marvellous job so far, it's not your fault though." She said with worry in her words._

" _It's Ganon's." Daruk erupted angrily, but he stopped as Zelda gently hushed him._

 _Seeing the confusion on the young man's face, Zelda went on. "Link, you've seen the red tears falling from the sky, haven't you?" He nodded. "Ganon has found a way to send his energy out of his prison. Since you freed the last Divine Beast, he's been hunting for you and unfortunately he has put you into a great danger."_

 _Mipha took over, politely. "I'm afraid a Tear had invaded your heart already."_

 _In that moment, Link realized the truth of his health, he had nightmares and dark visions because of the corruption, his behaviour had been probably affected by it as well. "When I was headed to the Korok Forest, I went through the Sacred Grounds Ruins…"_

 _Urbosa stepped in, vigorously. "One of the Guardians you met there was probably corrupted, just like the one you just defeated. They were both filled with Malice. And both unfortunately transferred it to you, Link."_

 _Revali seemed really disappointed, but he didn't comment._

 _Link ignored him, trying to remember what happened that day. He did remember a red liquid coming out from one of the Guardians, but he was too worried in finding the right distance to parry an incoming shot from another Guardian. He ended up badly wounded, after the fight, but he found a safe place where to recover. The Malice must have followed him and corrupted him in his sleep because he indeed woke up feeling different, thing that at the time he thought was due to the wounds._

 _He looked up at Zelda with defeated eyes. "This is why the Master Sword doesn't accept me… What should I do now?"_

" _Fear not, Link, now that we found a way to keep the corruption at bay, we gained some time." Her words brought just more confusion to him._

" _The Golden Guardian, you idiot!" Revali barked. "We've been sending it after you for weeks!"_

 _The other champions sent him scolding glares and he just groaned, crossed his wings and turned around annoyed._

"… _You sent it?" Link asked Zelda._

" _More or less. It awoke the day we lost contact with you. It took me a while to understand why that single Guardian acted like that, but I recognized it from when we were still in my father's castle, Link. Remember when we sneaked out in the middle of the night to go to see the mysterious new machines?" Link nodded and he seemed to immediately understand what she was talking about. "That one Guardian with a broken leg. Remember I touched it? It seemed I may have transferred some of my energy to it without realizing it, and it came to life in the moment of need. The laser it shot you with brought you here, the corruption has been weakened transferring its energy to you."_

" _The Malice in you must have driven you away from it until now," said Urbosa, "the second Tear also must have given you enough power to face the Golden Guardian driving you against it. I'm glad you never managed to strike or you would have been engulfed by Ganon's control."_

 _Link listened carefully to their words and took a moment to breathe deeply. He clenched his fists, feeling a new energy running through his body, a positivity that he hasn't felt in a long time. He then sent a look full of determination and hope to the group. "How do I get free from this corruption?"_

" _Naydra," said Zelda, "go to his Spring, he'll know how to help you."_

 _Without the Sheikah slate's help, it was going to be a long journey, but Link was ready. Mipha gently rested a hand on his shoulder, making him turn to her. "Don't worry, I'll contact an old friend to help you up to the Spring." She smiled and playfully patted his cheek. "Time to go back now, Link, you'll wake up in a safe place and don't worry about my brother and my father, I'll update them on the situation. Good luck and never forget we'll always be there for you."_

Link opened his eyes finding himself in a warm comfy bed, it was night and he could see the stars from the round windows on the ceiling. It was the prince's room, he realized, he recognized his gear and armour on a dummy in a corner. Though he didn't recall a bed in his room… He sat up grimacing, his body was as sore as he never felt, but his wounds had been taken care of, he pretty much felt like a mummy from the amount of bandages around his torso. He tried to recollect his memories and realized something, his mind was clear, he had no oppressing thoughts and that awful feelings he's kept having in the last weeks were completely gone. _"The Light of the Guardian…"_ He thought, the machine's power surely helped him. For now, at least.

He then heard a soft snoring coming from the end of the bed. He focused to try to figure out who was there and after few moments, he recognized Sidon's figure. He was resting his head on his crossed arms on the bed, probably sitting on a stool, fast asleep and seeming troubled in his dreams. Link wondered if Mipha was talking to him…

He waited a bit until he finally saw him relaxing and stretched out a hand, landing it on his shoulder. The prince jerked awake on the spot, looking around as if searching for an enemy. "Sidon, over here." Link snorted and patted his arm.

"Link! Link, my dearest friend, you gave us all a great scare." He scooted closer to him and searched for his hand, cupping it in his big ones. "How you feeling?"

"Better." He grinned and sent him a challenging look. "But we have a lot to do." He raised his hand, leaning on his elbow and Sidon clasped it firmly, nodding with determination. "Ooow…."

"Oh sweet Hylia, forgive me!"

* * *

Holy wackamoly, this chapter took me more than expected haha  
*is not dead*  
I got 2 pretty crazy months after I published my last chapter, things between work and travelling. Right now I'm in Las Vegas at my boyfriend's house, I'll return in Italy in mid July :3 I'm going to have some relaxing time and I can finally dedicate more time to my writing and art YAY

I honestly was pretty blown away by the feedback my first chapter got, I'm super glad ;w; thank youuuu! I hope you'll enjoy the rest as well, feel free to tell me what you think!

Toodles for now and see you real soon!  
2Due


	3. The Red Lynel

_**Ch. 3 – The Red Lynel**_

At the first lights of dawn the damages of the battle were fully visible, heavy marks signed the walls of the palace and few columns had gone destroyed, the floors ruined and the stands of the stores devastated, yet there were no signs of the beams of the guardian on the structures, but only on the far cliffs as Link parried them during the fight.

The zoras remained in the safety of the underwater shelters until the king declared it was clear, while guards, scouts and soldiers quickly got to work to set everything back to normality. Soon also workers and volunteers joined them to bring the domain back to its original splendour.

Even the Golden Guardian did its part. Link was leaning on the balcony looking down at it as it lifted a broken column off the ground with ease and put it back on its base, guided by the sculptors. From what he was told, after he collapsed in front of the golden machine, King Dorephan took him away himself. The king later explained he felt Mipha's energy into the beam that struck Link, alongside Zelda's and all the other Champions, therefore the Guardian had been declared friend to the zora people.

The zoras took a while to get used to the machinery, but it was clear it was safe and Link saw kids using one of its tentacles as a slide before he went to the meeting in the throne room.

"Who would have thought that one of those atrocious machines was going to help us?" Link turned around to see Muzu walking up to him. "How you feeling, kid?"

Link straightened up and grinned. "Like new. Nana's herbs sure helped a lot. I'm ready to go."

Muzu gave him a half smile and nodded. "Come. Let's go see if the scout is back with your horse."

Link adjusted his gear and armour and followed him downstairs, but not before giving a glance up to the throne room where the king and the prince were still talking.

They reached the main plaza and in few minutes they saw a huge black horse with a flaming red mane running down the path to the bridge with a zora soldier riding on his back.

Link tsk'd. "I'm surprised to not see any bite marks on your guy." He whistled and the horse sped up his pace much to the soldier's shock. "Ohy, ohy, boy." He patted his nose as the big horse stopped in front of him, clearly happy to see the young man.

The soldier shakily dismounted and took a lot of energy to stay on his feet straight. "Here's y-your horse, s-sir." And he handed Link back his bandana, which he made the horse sniff when he arrived at the far stable.

Link thanked the soldier dearly and also gave him an energizing elixir, which the zora took with philosophy, chuckling at it. The Golden Guardian suddenly started moving toward Link and the horse got quickly alert of it, but with few more pats and a tight hold of the reins, the horse remained calm. "Lil' Dorf, meet Goldie." Link joked and the machine raised a tentacle over the horse's head, patting it delicately. Lil' Dorf didn't seem very pleased and he snorted annoyed. "Please don't bite it."

Muzu stepped forward. "Allow us to take care of your horse, he must be tired." A scout, who previously helped the soldier standing straight, stepped forward as well, ready to take the reins, and Link allowed him.

"He just needs water and fresh fruits, he has no time for rest." He affectionately patted the warhorse's neck receiving a loud happy neigh, the horse sure didn't seem tired at all.

It was then that they heard a sudden commotion from the East bridge. Soldiers were shouting and a very familiar roar echoed in the area. Link was quick on his feet, jumping over fences and running up the stairs until he saw a group of guards holding their spears to a huge beast at the end of the bridge. As he ran he passed by a guard who was ready to sound the alarm, but he quickly stopped him holding his arm. The zora looked shocked, but Link quickly assured everything was ok before he ran on the bridge.

King Dorephan was towering over the guards and the prince, glaring at the red lynel in front of him. The beast was glaring back with the same intensity, yet it was slowly putting down its weapons, signing it wasn't there to fight. Although, that didn't make the guards put down their spears. "What is your business in my kingdom?" King Dorephan calmly asked, receiving just a hand pointing behind him. The king squinted at the beast before looking back, surprised to see Link running toward them.

"Put your weapons down!" Shouted the hylian as he stepped between the zoras and the lynel, giving the back to his last. "There's no threat. She's a friend."

Even Sidon looked shocked at that affirmation. "Link, what's the meaning of this? This monster has been terrorizing my people for years."

"I assure you," insisted Link, "there's no danger, she's out from Ganon's control." Seeing the zoras still unsure, he put his fist on his heart. "You have my word." They had no reason to doubt Link in the first place, but being reassured with the word of a Champion seemed to calm the soldiers enough. They barely reacted seeing the lynel placing a big hand on the hylian's shoulder.

"Link," King Dorephan took a step forward, clearly still slightly bothered, "what does give you any guarantee?"

"During our last battle, she accidentally came in contact with a dragon scale I had in my pouch. It's been a strong reaction and she stopped attacking me, bowing in apology." He gave the lynel's hand a nice pat. "Look at her eyes, sire. They changed."

The king indeed found a huge difference in those now blue eyes of the beast, there was no hate, no rage, just sharp intelligence and kindness. He was going to say something, but a guard at his side suddenly yelped while checking a bush and a small creature ran out and quickly went to hide next to the big lynel, behind Link, pulling his clothes with tiny hands. The lynel clearly sent the guard a menacing look, a warning, and she held closer the little creature, her cub.

Among all, the king seemed the more shocked of the group. "A lynel cub…" He looked at the little one, at its parent, then at Link. "She's truly out of Ganon's control…"

Sidon gulped seeing the cub and looked up at the king in clear confusion. "Father?"

"Monsters don't reproduce because they are under the influence of evil forces. Whichever tribe falls under Ganon's power is doomed to die and resurrect, trapped in this loop just to serve darkness itself, getting more and more corrupted at each rebirth." It was a common knowledge for the king's generation, but he didn't add it.

Link nodded and moved a bit aside to let the cub to be seen a bit better. It was an adorable, tender looking thing, with reddish short fur with darker spots and white scruffy mane and tail, two golden bumps peeked on its head and it had the same blue eyes as its mother. It was barely as tall as the parent's frontal leg, looking very shy. "He's about a couple of months old, he was born two weeks after Mama got free." He affectionately patted her big arm. "They stayed in the caves on the other side of the mountains until now, away from curious eyes." He had a theory about her being the only red lynel he ever met in this travelling. Since other lynels got more and more corrupted after each fight, he thought that "Mama" remained in a less ruined condition because of her pregnancy, she might have been captured by Ganon's power already in that state, which might have been frozen until her freedom. He kept it for himself though, it wasn't much the right place and moment to share it.

King Dorephan nodded and dismissed the guards with the order to spread the word about the lynels to avoid panic in the kingdom, thing that wasn't needed at all after the last hours… Only the king and the prince remained with Link and the lynels.

Link turned to the big creature, "Why you here, girl?"

Mama lynel growled something patting her own chest, right over her heart, to then point at Link's heart and the Golden Guardian in the background.

Link looked a bit confused at first. "You felt my corruption…?" She nodded and cupped her hands in front of him. "The scale…?" He quickly brought out one of the dragon scales he had in his pouch. "They won't help me as they did with you." And he gently placed the item in her big hands. She took it up to her nose to sniff it and she then raised her arm, pointing in the direction of the spring high in the mountains. "Yes, it's Naydra's, I'm going to their spring." He squinted at him. "You're not saying you want to come with me, are you?" She growled nodding, firmly, and gave him the scale back. "Forget it." He snapped sharply, but she heard no reasoning. She kept pointing at herself, at Link and then the mountain, eventually starting to roar in his face as he kept refusing her offer and reminding her of her cub, almost roaring back at her.

The king and the prince in the meantime awkwardly stood there astonished and confused while witnessing that weird conversation… They shared a look, none daring to step between those two. It was hard to know who they had to fear the most, the lynel mother or Link…

"I'll…uh…go get ready. Yeah." Sidon signed behind himself with a thumb over his shoulder, clasped his hands and turned on his heels, quickly trotting away.

Luckily for king Dorephan, it was the cub to intervene, meeping scared against the parent's leg, stopping her from roaring any louder. She looked down at him and reassured him patting his head with her big hand. Even Link stopped arguing, he huffed putting his hands on his hips and sighed. The king took few steps closer to them. "I guess she wants to escort you to the spring." Link nodded, not truly happy about it. "She might be of great help, her cub can remain here if it's ok for her." Link sent him an incredulous look, but he still considered the offer… in the end he agreed, despite reluctant. The lynel looked at the zora king with hard eyes, but she bowed at him, accepting, then she picked her weapons up. The cub looked confused and pressed himself more against the leg of the mother.

"It's settled then. Come on, Link, time to go." The king turned towards the palace, followed by Link and the lynels. The hooves of the beasts, especially the adult's, sounded really heavy on the polish floors and unfortunately broke the pavements even more where there were cracks left from the battle. "Guard! Call Nana for me!"

As the entered the main plaza, the zoras quickly retreated at the sight of the huge beast, despite the guards announced it, people still remembered the lynel as a bloodthirsty monster. The children quickly ran back to their parents, young soldiers seemed to shake at her sight, even more experienced soldiers looked intimidated by her as well. Mama lynel on the other hand showed no emotion, she never removed her hand from the cub's head and always looked forward. Link remained at her side, close to the cub, signing time to time to the people everything was under control.

The nurse stormed out from her office, stomping her way toward the king. "What's the ruckus this time, Dorephan?! I'm bus- oh gracious Hylia!" She came to a sharp stop as she noticed the lynel. "I thought the guard was pulling my leg…" She looked at Link with big eyes. "You always find a way to make my poor old heart skip a beat, kiddo." At that Link seemed to blush a bit, embarrassed. She then noticed the shy little one hiding behind him, astonished. "Hylia, have mercy of me… Last time I saw one I was just a trainee." Which was probably 150 years earlier.

"Eh, indeed, Nana. Ehm… you can take care of him, right?" King Dorephan pretty much looked like a kid asking permission to his mother…

The little nurse looked at him as he was joking. "Beg your pardon?"

It was Link who stepped forward, gently guiding the cub away from her mother, the little one clung at his hand with all his strength, almost pulling the hylian down to the ground. "His mother is coming with me at the spring."

Nana gave them all a long disbelieving look and after a long moment she sighed deeply. "I'm too old for this… Fine. I'll prepare a room for him." Mama lynel bowed her head to the nurse as big thanks, which she waved off grumbling as she walked back to her infirmary. "Even a lynel carer, I became… bah…"

Link ruffled the cub's hair and let his mother pick him up in her big arms. She hugged him close to her chest and gently pressed her forehead against his. He didn't seem to understand what was going on and he tried to return in her arms as she put him down. The mother insisted for him to stay down, softly growling at him, while she removed her necklace to give it to him. It was a simple leather lace with Farosh's scale as pendant. He looked at it with curious eyes, even munching on it, making his mother apparently chuckle and pat his head.

A guard appeared guiding Link's horse to him. Lil' Dorf suddenly raised his frontal legs in the air, scaring the living hell of the poor zora, lifting him from the ground, and he trotted quickly towards the lynel, just to abruptly stop before her and making friendly noises at her. Mama lynel just patted his head, making him happy. Link squatted down next to the zora who got dragged on the floors… He snorted and helped him up.

The Golden Guardian finished helping with a load of rocks and seeing Link mounting on his horse, it got ready to go, quickly moving to the bridge. Mama lynel approached it to make acquaintance and the big machine seemed happy to have her around, cheerfully moving up and down, side to side as if to see all her features.

"I'll let you have news as soon as possible, sire." Link shared a look with the king, both knowing Mipha was going to help them in her ways.

"Link, wait up!" Much to Link's surprise, Sidon approached him at quick pace in full armour and with a splendid white trident on his back. His armour was quite a set, covering him from head to toe in iridescent blue-green scales and black metal joint protections and white belts for weapons and a side pouch. His tail and head were well protected in what looked like chainmail and a fabric anti-cold, same colours of the scales. Only his fins, hands and feet were free of movements.

"Sidon, what you doing?" Asked Link, deeply frowning.

"Coming with you, what else?" He said proudly, hands on hips. "Come on, my dear friend, go ahead, I'll follow you from the river." He just took a couple of steps that he found the huge horse stepping on his way.

"Are you out of your mind? It's way too dangerous." Link never had a more serious expression on his face, which Sidon reciprocated.

"I'm going with you, you like it or not, Link. I'll be your guide through the waters and your protection." He brought his fist to his chest with vigour and pride, ignoring the worried look his father was laying upon him. They discussed about it, the king really didn't want him to go, but nothing was going to change the prince's mind. "You're not in conditions to face this task alone, my dear friend, and I don't want you to get further hurt."

Link was looking at him astonished. He groaned and looked at the king searching for support, but he just found eyes of a concerned, resigned father. He looked back at the prince, locking their eyes for a long silent moment… he sighed finding how stubborn and convinced Sidon was. "We're going straight south from here," he commanded guiding the horse to the bridge, "up the Ruto mountain, across the Rutala river and the Samasa Plain, then up until we reach the East Gate of Lanayru Road through the Trotter's Downfall. We'll pass the Naydra Snowfield and follow the path up the Spring of Wisdom." He noticed Sidon looking at him with amazed eyes as he described the path they were going to take without even having the map. "It's not going to be an easy journey, but it's the fastest way I can think of."

Sidon showed him a big grin. "I like this plan." He turned to wave at his people and his father. "We'll see you soon, father." He exchanged a nod with him and dove into the waters as Link, the lynel and the Guardian dashed across the main bridge.

* * *

Notes:

Hi hi, everyone :3

I've been wanting to write about th red lynel for a long time now, always been fond of that big red beast hehehe

I hope you enjoy the new chapter! Feel free to share your thoughts, I always appreciate it ^u^  
See you soon with the next one :)

Big hugs,  
2Due


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